


Metamorphosis

by Argus1987



Category: Six - Marlow/Moss
Genre: Alternate Universe - Creatures & Monsters, EB, Elizabeth Barton - Freeform, Eventual Fluff, F/F, Human/Monster Romance, Jeb - Freeform, Joan Meutas, Joan on the keys - Freeform, Monsters, Mothman, Original Character(s), Six monster au, Suspense, Transformation, insect
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-09
Updated: 2020-09-09
Packaged: 2021-03-06 23:07:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,403
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26366929
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Argus1987/pseuds/Argus1987
Summary: EB returns to her girlfriends home to check up on her, only to find that things aren't quite how she left them
Relationships: Joan/Elizabeth Barton
Comments: 2
Kudos: 19





	Metamorphosis

**Author's Note:**

> This is a crossover between the SIXextended verse and my Six monster au, focusing on the relationship between EB (Elizabeth Barton) and Joan *edit* changed the format

It was still dark in the first hours of the morning, the rural neighbourhood that the Ladies in Waiting called their home was still and quiet. Interrupted only by the call of an owl, the chirp of a cricket or the sound barrier breaking as a black Vespa scooter sped down the quiet road at what seemed like Mach 10 speed. 

Elizabeth Barton couldn’t lose a single second as she zoomed down the road towards her girlfriend’s house. Her eyes, bloodshot and wide as dinner plates were burning holes through the visor of her helmet as she cursed rapidly under her breath. EB had been out of town for the past couple of days before this happened, she had been at an obscure music festival and had begged her girlfriend Joan to come along. Joan, however, had to decline as she needed to work with her bandmates on new ventures and projects but wished EB well on her journey. But all had not gone according to plan.

EB was cursing herself out for being too drunk to respond to the many texts and calls she was getting from her phone one night. But by the time EB had sobered up she realized that something had gone horribly wrong back home and Joan needed her. The worst part about it was that EB had no idea what had happened. The missed calls started as Joan seemed nervous and talking about how everyone was ‘acting strangely’ and that the Queen’s weren’t picking up their phones. But they began to get more desperate and less comprehendible. All EB could pick out from the last messages was ‘string’ ‘downstairs’ and ‘changing’ EB didn’t have the time or brainpower to dissect those words and what they meant. EB just had to get to Joan as quickly as possible, anything to see if she was alright.

Finally, after hours of blasting her Vespa’s engine by travelling at top speed for hours, she saw the Ladies house come into view. The windows were pitch black, showing no sign of anyone being home. EB swerved into the driveway and didn’t even park her scooter, just jumping off and racing into the house leaving her scooter to fall over on its side. It didn’t matter, EB could replace a broken scooter, she couldn’t replace Joan.

EB sprinted up to the front door only to see that it was not only open but hanging on only one of its hinges, bending over due to a massive tear in the centre, having almost been broken in half. EB stumbled to a halt upon seeing the broken door and just stood there for a few seconds regaining her breath. She looked around for any signs of life in the building, the whole place was eerily quiet, no signs of anyone or anything present in the house. EB took in a deep breath and gingerly stepped over to the door and pushed the door open. The moonlight illuminated the entrance hallway and showed EB just enough to cause another rush of adrenaline to flow through her veins. The whole place was a mess, that was to be expected. But this time, instead of random junk and unwashed laundry littering the floor. Pieces of broken furniture and equipment were strewn all over the place, a large chair with all of its legs missing was sitting a few paces from the front door having been thrown there. One of Maggie’s guitars was sticking out from the walls, the neck snapped and hanging limply with wires sticking out haphazardly. But what made EB’s hairs stand on end were the deep gashes in the walls, cutting right through the plaster leaving long, dark, jagged lines lining the walls. Upon closer inspection the pattern of the gashes was clear, they were claw marks. 

EB wasn’t ashamed to admit she was scared, she was sweating bullets and shaking like a leaf. EB had seen some serious shit in both her lifetimes, shit that was much more serious than this. She had been walked to the scaffolds about to be executed and still kept a calm, serious face showing no fear. She’d dealt with criminals, gangs and drug dealers both on the streets and in prison and managed to slide her way out of trouble with pure nerve and confidence. But this time was different, she had no idea what was going on or what she was dealing with, and she had never had to deal with a loved one being in potential danger. 

EB just gulped, and with a sweaty, shaking hand took her phone from her pocket and turned on the light. EB didn’t want to attract whatever did the damage to her, so she sneaked as quietly as possible towards the stairs. EB walked slowly but surely up the stairs, cringing whenever the stairs made an audible creak. As she ascended, she looked around with her phone light. The rest of the house that she could see was in a similar state of disrepair, claw marks lining the sofa and even one of the living room windows was broken. EB didn’t want to know what had done this to the house she just wanted to find Joan. Finally, she reached the top of the stairs and peered down the corridor to see the door to Joan’s room unopened. EB shuffled towards the door and quickly shut her phone off, after quickly glancing left and right she knocked quietly on the door with two of her knuckles.

“Joan?” EB called in a hushed voice, trying not to be too loud. “Joey…Luv it’s me! It’s Elizabeth I’m back!” 

There was no response

EB felt a pit in her stomach, she peered through the keyhole.

Darkness…

“Joan…honey…please!” EB whisper-shouted, more desperate this time, knocking louder “Okay I’m coming in now”

EB grabbed the doorknob and was relieved to find that the door was unlocked. She slowly opened the door and peered inside. The whole room was pitch black, which was understandable as Joan seldom opened the blinds or curtains, but it wasn’t like her to not have at least one light on. 

“Joey?” EB called again pulling her phone back out and turning on the light. She took a step in, subconsciously closing the door behind her. The phone's light was pointed at the floor and EB slowly lifted it looking at more of the room as she continued walking in, still too afraid to turn on any lights in fear of what she might attract. 

EB scanned across the room. Everything seemed normal, unkempt bed, scattered laundry, her keyboard sitting on its stand. But then EB shone the light past Joan’s bed which was placed with the headboard against the centre of the left wall. EB saw something sitting just behind it, in the space between the bed and the far wall by the corner of the window. EB shone her light upon this giant, round shape. And when the light illuminated it, EB dropped her phone and almost screamed before jamming her hand reflexively into her mouth, silencing her scream. 

The shape was a giant, white stringy ball, that was stuck to the wall by its cobweb-like strands. But what terrified EB was that it was big enough to fit a person, big enough to fit Joan. 

“JOAN!” EB shrieked, her already bulging eyes were now virtually popping out of her head. EB raced over to the ball, vaulting over the bed and landing by the ball, breathing heavily from the sudden bout of exercise and the terror of her situation. EB’s fears were seemingly confirmed, sitting by the ball was some of Joan’s clothes, but these weren’t her dirty laundry; these clothes were fresh. EB looked closer and saw that some of them were partially stuck inside the ball. But what tipped EB off was when she leaned in closer towards the ball, she saw a small black rectangle stuck in its stringy wall, it was unmistakably Joan’s phone.

There was no doubt, Joan was stuck inside that ball.

EB was just about to rip into the ball and pull Joan out, but then EB stopped and realized something. The look and structure of the ball was very familiar. EB rattled her brain for answers, then it hit her. It was a cocoon. 

Looking closer at the cocoon, EB realized something else. EB was no expert on butterflies or moths, but she learnt somewhere that when caterpillars form cocoons, their entire bodies liquefy and eventually reform into their new bodies. EB just sat there with this realization hanging over her head, she placed a hand on the cocoon and shone her phone light inside it. She couldn’t make out anything resembling a body, but she could feel a slight pulse from within. So, Joan was alive, but undergoing the process of metamorphosis, changing into…something. And depending on how long she’d been stuck in the cocoon, her body might already be soup. And EB doubted that if she broke open the cocoon and found nothing but organ soup inside, that she’d be able to reform Joan’s body by herself. 

EB just sat there on her knees for minutes on end with a stressed yet defeated look on her face. What was she supposed to do now? EB had gained a reputation both in prison and in the theatre for being cunning, calculated and able to play anyone like a fiddle and twist any situation in her favour. But now she was completely powerless, she couldn’t even get angry because she was still frozen with fear and anxiety. Besides what would that even do? She couldn’t risk doing anything to the cocoon in fear that would make a bad situation worse. So EB just stood up, turned her phone off one last time, walked over to Joan’s bed, and sat down. Without any other options, EB decided that the best thing to do right now was just to wait and watch. 

Hours passed and yet EB didn’t tear her eyes off the cocoon. Even as the sun's rays peered through the curtains EB didn’t move an inch. She just sat there, watching the cocoon like a hawk not daring to look away, even for a second. EB wanted to be there, at the ready if Joan needed her.

Hours continued to pass, and EB sat there diligently watching the cocoon. The time spent not doing anything other than watch the cocoon gave EB plenty of time to think. And EB’s mind was a cruel beast when it wandered. 

EB had never really thought about or paid any attention to insects and the lives they led, like most people. EB knew little about moths other than that you typically didn’t want to find them in your wardrobe. But the idea that a creature that is basically a large worm with tiny legs that literally does nothing but eat constantly can become a completely different creature that has wings and a completely different diet. It was like if a goat somehow transformed into a dragon. EB let out a nervous sigh, what was bothering EB the most is that if a caterpillar can leave its cocoon so different, what was happening to Joan? What was Joan turning into? And what troubled EB even more was if she had turned entirely to liquid and was reforming, did that include her brain? Would she even remember EB? Or anything? Would she be the same person? This was what terrified EB the most, EB had already accepted that Joan would come out looking different, but would it even matter if her mind was no longer hers?

EB was tempted at one point to look up the technicalities of metamorphosis on her phone but there was no Wi-Fi available. It appears that whatever destroyed the downstairs area also destroyed the modem. So EB just continued sitting there, trying desperately to push all of those dark thoughts to the back of her head, deciding to wait and see what happens.

EB had almost forgotten that something that definitely wasn’t Joan had destroyed the house. At one point EB heard shuffling downstairs and the vocalisation of…something EB couldn’t tell what, it sounded like a mixture of a growl and a moan, low and mournful. EB wasn’t taking a single chance if it meant being there for Joan, so EB not looking away from the cocoon just walked backwards towards the door and locked it before quickly walking back to the bed. EB heard more shuffling from outside but it didn’t matter. The idea that a locked door could stop whatever threw a chair across the house and ripped gashes into the walls was almost laughable in a sense. EB ready to attack if necessary, kept a firm grip on her stiletto switchblade inside her pocket with her thumb resting over the button for a quick draw if anything happened. 

The hours marched on until the sun was beginning to set and the light in the room went dim again. EB was barely conscious at this point, the hours it had taken to get to the house in the first place plus the entire days’ worth of waiting was now starting to take its toll on her. EB’s head was groggy and she needed to take her meds. Overall, her body was begging her to sleep but she had to stay awake at least a little while longer. 

Until finally right as EB’s eyes were about to droop shut, she heard a sound come from inside the cocoon. EB darted awake at the sound and stared right at the cocoon, which was moving. The sound was a high-pitched clicking sound that came in rapid succession as something began pushing against the wall of the cocoon facing EB. EB stood up still unsure of what to do, she just stood there and watched as the cocoon shuffled about. A patch of the wall was becoming dampened with some type of moisture, EB could see something from the inside moving around, chipping away at the dampened wall.

“J-Joey?” EB whispered, staring at the cocoon in fevered anticipation. For a second the clicking stopped and the cocoon was still, before the clicking and moving returned a second later this time faster and more desperate. EB could now clearly see something moving inside the cocoon from the thinned-out wall. She still couldn’t make it out clearly, it seemed both light and dark in colour and it was pawing at the wall. It was at that moment EB had decided that she was done with waiting. She had stayed up for 24 hours straight powered only by fear-induced adrenaline, she just wanted to see her girlfriend and by any means, she was going to do that. So EB grabbed her knife from her pocket and knelt by the thinned-out wall 

“hang on Joey I’m gonna get ya out of there!” EB exclaimed

Once again, the clicking and pawing stopped. EB carefully slid the end of the blade into the damp, stringy wall and with her thumb on the blade as to carefully guide it through the silk. EB made an incision downwards opening a large tear in the silky wall. She slid her knife down from the top of the moist patch towards the bottom and up again, opening the tear more. She was so busy focusing on her knife that she hadn’t noticed what was in the cocoon. She looked up and found herself staring at two giant, red shining eyes which were looking straight at her. 

EB froze, unsure of what to do, she still didn’t know if that was still Joan in there, she didn’t even know what it was. Then the eyes grew bigger as the figure started to move forwards. EB slid the knife out of the silk wall and quickly backed away as she folded the blade and put the knife back in her pocket. 

A pale, lilac shape began emerging from the tear in the wall, it continued pushing out until it became clear that it was a head of long, lilac hair. The long silver-purple locks fell over her head and face obscuring her view. She shook her head and two long, feather-like, bushy antennae unfolded from under her hair standing straight up like rabbit ears. She kept on exiting the cocoon until EB could see her shoulders, and then her arms reached out from the cocoon and reached out landing on the floor in front of her. From her shoulders to her elbows her arms were structured normally except for the fact that they were covered in dark, greyish-purple fuzz. But her forearms were covered in much thicker longer fuzz that was the same colour as her hair. It was so long EB couldn’t even see her hands, just dark nubs sticking out that were most likely her fingers. 

EB knelt back down and grabbed her by what she assumed was her wrists, she was taken back by how soft and dense the lilac fuzz was. It felt like a freshly washed blanket, impossibly soft and light. EB’s fingers disappeared deep into the dense, purple fuzz before she found her wrists. EB grabbed her wrists and pulled, soon the rest of her torso emerged from the cocoon and to EB’s shock another pair of arms unfolded from under the first pair. Identical to her first pair they scrambled around feeling the floor before pushing her up. “Woah!” EB exclaimed in shock rising from her crouching position to a standing position lifting the insectoid girl up with her. As her torso was pulled from the cocoon, two giant crumpled shapes unfolded from her back. EB stared at the shapes unfolding, they looked like crumpled fabric, black with crimson markings. As they stretched out EB could see that they were wings, the structure was odd, to say the least. They were one large, flat, form like an insect but had feather-like segments that were spreading out at the edges. 

Finally, her legs were free, and she began trying to stand on them. Her legs were covered in the same thin, dark, fuzz as the rest of her body. Her feet were long and thin, and she had to stand on her toes, digitigrade like an animal. Her legs were almost hoof-like with only two toes that she had to balance on. After staggering slightly trying to balance on her new feet she lurched forward suddenly, letting go of EB’s wrists and grabbing onto her shoulders, using EB’s body to support her as she found her feet. 

Losing her balance had frustrated her as she started making irritated, squeaky, chirping sounds and vibrating her wings rapidly. EB was taken off guard by this little outburst but she held herself together, maintaining a calm presence to not escalate the situation. EB brushed the lilac hair that obscured the insect-girls face aside and looked back into those huge red eyes. They were at least twice as big as her normal eyes and took up almost the entirety of the top half of her face.

EB just stared straight into her girlfriend’s face, it was strange what with her giant eyes and the fact that she didn’t seem to have a nose. She just looked back at EB, her eyes unblinking.

“Joan?” EB asked in a whisper, no response, her antennae just lowered slightly “Joan, baby, speak to me!” EB asked again more urgently this time.

After her antennae lowered even further, she looked down with a nervous expression, squeezing her eyes slightly shut as her face trembled. She looked like she was trying to say something but physically couldn’t get the words out. 

“yeah…yeah! go on!” EB quietly encouraged. 

Suddenly she opened her mouth and a long black tongue popped out curling inwards at the end trailing some clear slime with it. EB was admittedly horrified at seeing what turned out to be her proboscis for the first time, but nevertheless, she kept her composure and let her adjust to her new mouth organ in her own time.

Finally, after the proboscis curled back into her mouth she began stammering, EB leaned in listening eagerly.

“E-…e…. Eliza-…EB…EB!” Joan stammered

EB’s face lit up with joy, her mouth forming a gigantic goofy grin as she stuttered with joy. 

“Joey…you remember me!” EB laughed 

Joan looked at her confused “How could I forget you? You’re my girlfriend!”

EB suddenly wrapped her arms around Joan’s neck pulling her into a bear hug as she laughed in ecstasy and relief 

“Oh, Joey baby!” EB blubbered “I’m so fucking happy to see you! To hear your voice!”

“EB I…I’m happy to see you too!” Joan said, still taken off guard by how quick EB shifted gears from quiet to euphoric in a matter of seconds.

“But EB I...” Joan started to say before pushing EB gently as her signal to release her from her vice grip of a hug. EB complied, pulling away from Joan still holding her by the shoulders.

“EB I…” Joan started again before looking down and getting a good look at herself, her struggle to get out of the cocoon had not left her much time to comprehend what she had become. She could feel everything, but it was another thing to see it. She was taken aback by her purple fuzzy form. It seemed so unnatural, yet fascinating.

“Woah...” Joan exclaimed as she realised she had a second pair of arms. She took a second to look at her secondary hands, analysing the dark, leathery ‘pads’ in the centre of both of them.

“EB, I’m a weird bug thing…”

“WHO CARES!” EB shrieked, stilling grinning like an idiot

“You don’t care?” Joan asked, cocking one of her antennae to the side like a curious puppy.

“Babe! I couldn’t give a toss about what you look like!” EB grinned, then her smile started to tremble, and her eyes got watery 

“I was…terrified that you wouldn’t remember me…that your brain wouldn’t be the same, but…you’re still you…you’re still my Joey” 

Tears of joy were streaming down EB’s hollow cheeks as she sniffed and blubbered her response. Joan was shocked, a lot of weird shit had happened tonight, but this was up there.

EB. Does. Not. Cry 


Joan could’ve sworn that EB had her tear ducts surgically removed at some point because crying was normally completely out of question. EB had been so used to hiding any emotional vulnerability for so long that EB hadn’t even thought of crying for years. But now, EB wasn’t ashamed to bawl her eyes out, because potentially losing Joan had cut her deeper than anything had in a long time. Deeper than her execution even. But fuck did it feel amazing to know that she hadn’t lost Joan.

Joan Just smiled, her antennae perking up as she wiped away EB’s tears with one of her fuzzy hands. 

“I’m sorry EB, I didn’t mean to scare you”

EB grabbed both of Joan’s cheeks and pressed her nose where Joan’s nose should be

“Do. Not. Apologise. For. Anything!” EB said very firmly “I just-“EB paused, wiping away the remainder of her tears “I just wanna know what happened? What happened to cause this?” EB gestured to the remains of the cocoon “and what caused all that destruction downstairs?” 

Joan gazed absent-mindedly up at the ceiling, her four hands fiddling with each other

“Well…I’m still not sure. When I tried to call you Maggie was getting angry for no reason and wrecking everything downstairs and…barking? I dunno and Bessie locked herself in the bathroom and wouldn’t come out. And me? I just ran in here because of everything that was going on downstairs, and then this stuff started coming out of my mouth and…I don’t know what happened my brain just went into autopilot and I just had to spin the stuff into…that” Joan looked at the cocoon “and by the time I snapped out of it I was already inside that thing and I had stripped naked! Could you believe it!” Joan giggled at the absurdity of it all “And then I just passed out and I woke up and…yeah I guess I look like this now” Joan finished doing a ‘jazz hands’ thing with her four, paw-like hands. 

EB chuckled “ah shit…I should’ve noticed before that you’re naked”

Indeed, Joan was, in fact, naked. Everything was just obscured by fuzz. Joan giggled if you could see the skin on her face under the lilac fuzz she’d be blushing. 

“S’okay sugar! I don’t mind my ladies with a bit of scruff if you know what I mean” EB joked, strolling towards Joan opening her arms. Joan took the invitation and jumped into EB’s hold wrapping her thighs around EB’s waist. 

“Woah! Joey! You’re so light!” EB remarked as Joan looked down at her, stroking EB’s hair and cheeks with her first two hands and holding onto her chest with the second pair. EB was right, despite having two extra limbs and a pair of wings she must’ve weighed less than half as much as she did before.

“Well anyways, I’ve been up for 24 hours and *yawn* I think I’m losing my adrenaline high” EB slurred as she carried Joan to the bed. 

“EB! You’ve been awake for 24 hours!? You need to get some sleep right now!” Joan squeaked, audibly concerned. 

“That’s the plan” EB yawned as she collapsed on Joan’s double bed, kicking off her shoes. 

Joan remained perched on EB’s chest, EB watched her curl up into a sleeping position. EB just grinned and stroked Joan’s antennae softly

“Joey...sugar, what did I do to deserve you?” EB murmured lazily before her eyes drooped shut and she fell asleep. 

Joan just smiled, stroking EB’s grin-laden face. It was dawning on Joan everything that EB had gone through while she slept in her cocoon. Travelling all that distance without stopping, braving a potentially dangerous house, and waiting all that time for her to come out. And when she did and it was revealed that Joan was no longer human, she didn’t care, she was just ecstatic that she was reunited with her beloved.

“I should ask that same question” Joan whispered, curling up on her girlfriend's chest.

**Author's Note:**

> For those unfamiliar with me or my work, Check out my Tumblr to see more of what I've created for the Six monster au - https://spooner7308.tumblr.com/ 
> 
> Here's a link to the drawings I've drawn of Monster!Joan and the other LIW - https://spooner7308.tumblr.com/post/624883807911280640/the-monster-au-ladies-in-waiting-everyone-ive
> 
> And this is what EB looks like - https://spooner7308.tumblr.com/post/627382744005083136/i-made-a-six-oc-its-elizabeth-barton-aka-the
> 
> That is all


End file.
